Pakistan's military establishment is reportedly turning its decades-old proxy strategy against its former allies, the Afghan Taliban, by recruiting and arming Afghan factions to combat militants hostile to Islamabad, according to a report by South Asia Press. The development marks a sharp reversal in a relationship that once underpinned Pakistan's regional security doctrine.

Khalilzad Raises the Alarm

Former US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad flagged the emerging reports, pointing to indications that the Pakistani military had begun arming Afghan groups to take on insurgents that threaten Islamabad. Khalilzad warned that 'as things currently stand, relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan are likely to get much worse.' Pakistan's Ministry of Information has rejected the allegations as 'baseless and misleading.'

A Decades-Old Playbook, Turned Inward

For nearly four decades, Islamabad treated the Afghan Taliban as a strategic asset — a tool to limit India's influence in Kabul and secure a sympathetic regime on its western flank. That calculus has since unravelled into a low-intensity border conflict, with Pakistan accusing the Taliban in Kabul of sheltering the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the insurgent group waging a sustained campaign inside Pakistan. 'Frustrated by Kabul's refusal to rein in its ideological brethren, Islamabad appears to be reverting to its historical playbook: fighting fire with fire, or more accurately, proxies with proxies,' the report stated.

The Risk of a New Pandora's Box

Analysts warn the move carries severe blowback potential. Pakistan's history with militant proxies is one of repeated unintended consequences — groups armed to project influence abroad have, on multiple occasions, redirected violence toward Pakistan itself. 'By allegedly arming new Afghan factions to suppress the TTP, Islamabad risks opening a Pandora's box of uncontrollable local militias, further destabilising an already volatile border region,' the report cautioned.

Kurram District Flashpoint

The report cited a recent exchange of heavy artillery fire between Pakistani forces and Afghan Taliban fighters in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where Pakistani officials claimed to have destroyed Taliban border posts. The incident illustrates how sharply the once-close relationship has deteriorated. Notably, Kurram has historically been a flashpoint for cross-border tensions, making it a particularly sensitive theatre for any escalation.

What Analysts Say

'The very proxies that Islamabad nurtured to guarantee its western flank have become its primary security threat,' the report observed. 'If the reports of Pakistan arming new Afghan proxies are validated, it signals a desperate gamble by a nuclear-armed state running out of options.' The report added that 'in trying to contain the monsters of its past, Pakistan may simply be breeding the adversaries of its future.' Analysts see the alleged manoeuvre as a reflection of a long-standing institutional instinct within Pakistan's security establishment — one that has repeatedly generated strategic blowback.